Systems and methods for optical protection switch with single-ended activation, operation, and provision of 1+1 protection over redundant bidirectional communications paths

An apparatus, comprising:

• a tail-end optical switch configured to be coupled to a broadcast star network that couples the tail-end optical switch to a head-end optical switch, over a node, by a primary bidirectional optical path and a second bidirectional optical path,
• the tail-end optical switch having a first optical switch and a second optical switch configured to provide active switching,
• the tail-end optical switch configured to provide a 1+1 protection over the primary bidirectional optical path, the second bidirectional optical path, and across the node, by using the active switching without active switching at the head-end optical switch, such that (i) a first port of the tail-end optical switch is configured to provide one of bidirectional communication or unidirectional communication, and (ii) a second port of the tail-end optical switch is configured to provide the other of bidirectional communication or unidirectional communication, the head-end optical switch having a first optical switch and second optical switch, each of the tail-end optical switch and head-end optical switch having optical coupler being coupled to the first optical switch and the second optical switch of respective optical coupler, each of the tail-end optical switch and head-end optical switch having four ports for bidirectional or unidirectional communications, both the tail-end optical switch and the head-end optical switch are configured to:
• receive, over at least one of the primary bidirectional optical path or the second bidirectional optical path, network traffic in the broadcast star network;
• detect, based on the network traffic, an optical path failure event on at least one of the primary bidirectional optical path or the second bidirectional optical path;
• actuate, in response to detecting the optical path failure event, the second switch to
• (i) set the second switch to one of a first state or a second state, and
• (ii) route at least a portion of the network traffic over at least one of the primary bidirectional optical path or the second bidirectional optical path;
• and
• actuate, in response to detecting the optical path failure event, the first switch to
• (i) set the first switch to one of the first state or the second state, the first switch being set to the first state when the second switch is set to the second state, the first switch being set to the second state when the second switch is set to the first state, and
• (ii) block at least a portion of the network traffic over at least one of the primary bidirectional optical path or the second bidirectional optical path.

A system, comprising:

• a first optical protection switch (OPS) including:
• a first port, a first optical coupler in optical communication with the first port, a first switch in optical communication with the first optical coupler, a second port in optical communication with the first switch and a first optical path and configured to provide one of bidirectional communication or unidirectional communication, and a third port in optical communication with a second switch and a second optical path and configured to provide one of the other of bidirectional communication or unidirectional communication, the first optical coupler configured to split a first signal into a first signal instance and a second signal instance;
• and
• a second OPS including:
• a fourth port, a second optical coupler in optical communication with the fourth port, a fifth port in optical communication with the second optical coupler and the first optical path and configured to provide one of bidirectional communication or unidirectional communication, and a sixth port in optical communication with the second optical coupler and the second optical path and configured to provide one of the other of bidirectional communication or unidirectional communication;
• a third optical switch and a fourth optical switch;
• a second optical coupler operatively coupled to the third optical switch and the fourth optical switch;
• the first OPS, when coupled over a node to the second OPS via the first optical path and the second optical path, configured to:
• provide active switching between the first optical path and the second optical path;
• and provide, using the active switching and without active switching at the second OPS, a 1+1 protection over the first optical path and the second optical path and across the node,
• both the first OPS and the second OPS are configured to:
• receive, over at least one of the first optical path or the second optical path, network traffic in a network,
• detect, based on the network traffic, an optical path failure event on at least one of the first optical path or the second optical path;
• actuate, in response to detecting the optical path failure event, the second switch or fourth optical switch to
• (i) set the second switch or fourth optical switch to one of a first state or a second state, and
• (ii) route at least a portion of the network traffic over at least one of the first optical path or the second optical path;
• and
• actuate, in response to detecting the optical path failure event, the first switch or third optical switch to
• (i) set the first switch or third optical switch to one of the first state or the second state, the first switch or third optical switch being set to the first state when the second switch or fourth optical switch is set to the second state, the first switch or third optical switch being set to the second state when the second switch or fourth optical switch is set to the first state, and
• (ii) block at least a portion of the network traffic over at least one of the first optical path or the second optical path.